‘Masters of Sex’ producer and show runner discuss their experiences

“Masters of Sex” producer Sarah Timberman (Zoe Redlich ’20) and showrunner Michelle Ashford shared their experience adapting the true story of sex therapists into a television show in this year’s fifth installment of Cinema Sundays on March 11.

“Masters of Sex” tells the story of the relationship between sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson from the 1950s to the 1960s. Timberman and Ashford discussed the necessary precautions they had to take when handling a show based on a “sexual revolution.”

Network intervention and influence in the show was one aspect they encountered while attempting to get their show picked up by the network, they said.

Timberman and Ashford also explained that there was not a lot of time to work in between seasons due to preparation for the more intense scenes in the show.

After hearing Ashford and Timberman speak, Wilder Short ’18 said he realized how tedious and demanding producing a television show can be.

“The work that goes into [the show] is 100 percent undivided, and your show is your baby,” Short said. “But once you get over the hurdles of getting it into the air you get something beautiful in the end product.”

The audience watched the pilot episode and episode 10 from the first season.